Broken Angel
by Kalanthe
Summary: Atobe finally drags his little sister to Japan but determined to make life difficult she enrols in Rikkaidai just to spite him, with a famous last name she finds herself the object of curious eyes and draws the attention of the Rikkaidai tennis club…
1. Chapter 1

Atobe finally drags his sister to Japan but determined to make life difficult she enrols in Rikkai just to spite him. With a famous last name she draws attention from the Rikkai tennis club and the trouble that comes with it. Raira becomes close friends with one of the regulars and when another makes an unexpected proposition, Raira finds herself stuck knee deep in drama, but this girl isn't all blue skies and sunshines. Atobe's little sister is hiding a secret of her own, one tearing her up from the inside.

**Prologue**

"You're crazy," Atobe Raira said bluntly to Yukimura Seiichi.

"How harsh," Yukimura replied with a faint smile.

"True though," Atobe remarked.

"Maybe." Raira took a good look at the frail looking boy, he was pretty, especially for a boy, as much as Atobe hated to admit it he was far prettier than her. But there was something so fundamentally disturbing about that perfection, the ever distant look in his eyes, everything came easy for him, he was regarded as a god and as such looked down on everyone else. She hated that look. Raira sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"This is insane," she whimpered. Yukimura smiled down at her.

"Maybe," he said again. "Well? Do we have a deal?" He held out one hand to shake hers, Raira looked at the open invitation, reluctantly she reached out and took his hand.

"Fine."

**Chapter 1**

"5-0, game set and match to Atobe," said the referee.

"Naturally," Atobe remarked as he stepped off the tennis court and made his way to where the coach Sakaki was sitting.

"A flawless game as usual," he commented. "You stumbled on the last backhand but I'm sure you've already realised what went wrong. You can go."

"Yes sir," Atobe replied. He took the towel Kanaji offered him and sat down on the bench. It was after school training as per usual, but he was a little more excited than usual as his younger sister would be getting off an airplane and come running into his arms any moment soon. "You can't wait to see her again, nah Kabaji?" he asked as he dried the sweat from his hair.

"Usu!" the giant sophomore replied, his expression remained stoic but Atobe could tell he was excited as well. Neither of them had seen her since their trip back to England, she refused to visit and until their last trip there whenever they'd gone back she refused to see them. According to his father she was upset with him for choosing to stay in Japan to finish his schooling instead of just the one year he'd originally intended. Hence she decided to ignore him until finally he cracked and begged her to talk to him, it wasn't something he'd do again anytime soon. He was Atobe Keigo after all, he never begged, he was stubborn but so was his twin sister, which was why it'd taken him two years to crack. It was a game of chicken and unfortunately Atobe Raira always won.

Not only that, after recent events he was scared for her, he remembered the sight of his precious little sister in shock and covered in blood in the hospital. Kabaji never lost control of his emotions but he did so then, it was only when Raira assured him that it wasn't her blood that he finally calmed down. Atobe's stubborn refusal to beg for her forgiveness crack then and there as well, he held her in his arms as she reassured him, leave it to her to end up battered and beaten in a hospital and yet still refuse to talk to him. Their father had laughed out loud when she turned her head with a pout when he walked into the room, had it not been for the seriousness of the situation he could have sworn she'd orchestrated the whole thing to make him give.

It wouldn't have been the first time, when they were younger they'd gotten into a fight, about what he couldn't remember, but she had thrown a fit and climbed up the large oak tree in their backyard and refused to come down until he apologised, everyone thought she'd come down when it started raining but she stayed up there until Atobe finally apologised an hour into the storm. Everyone assumed just by looking at the two of them Atobe was the leader, but he had a serious sister complex and his life almost revolved around pleasing her. It was an infinite loop, she'd cling on to him, Atobe would spoil and dote on her and she'd cling onto him even more.

"Well don't you look like something the cat dragged in?" remarked a familiar voice, Atobe looked up to see a pair of slate blue eyes set in a heart shaped face near identical to his own, she was leaning forward her head tilted to the right to meet his eye level. With a smile the girl straightened up and gently tugged the towel from his head. "Hello big brother."

"Delilah," he exclaimed with joy, he stood up and quickly wrapped her in his arms.

"Eww, you reek of sweat Keigo," she complained, but she returned his embrace.

XXX

"You what!?" demanded Atobe. He, his little sister and Kabaji were enjoying a civilised dinner at a high class restaurant in a five star hotel after club activities. Raira sat on the bench waiting for them to finish with Sakaki, what the two were talking about he had no idea but it gave him the idea of having her become a manager in the club. While Raira didn't know a forehand from a backhand, she was good with maths, keeping people in line and picking at tiny little almost irrelevant details, but what she just told him threw all those plans out the window.

Raira however wanted to leave Hyotei as quickly as possible, she could feel the eyes watching her from the club members and the fan girls in the background. She'd spent her whole life being compared to her brother, Raira was no slacker but whatever she did, Atobe did better, with the exception of people skills and modesty.

_"Are you enrolling in Hyotei," Sakaki had asked her. The coach was a quiet but articulate man, almost anything he said or did seemed to have some hidden intention behind it, he reminded Raira of her father._

_"No," she answered quietly not wanting her brother to hear._

_"I see, it's a shame," he answered. "Although I couldn't blame you for wanting to put some distance between yourself and your brother. Which school then?"_

_"Rikkai," Raira answered. She'd picked the school because it was widely respected for it's academic standing and for a few personal reasons as well, it was far enough from Hyotei and while she was aware of it's nationally ranked tennis club, she doubted, or at least hoped, Atobe's named hadn't reached that far. But the look Sakaki gave her when she told him was enough to make her sigh and want to get on a plane back to England._

"Calm down Kei," Raira whispered looking around self-consciously, his outburst had drawn quite a bit of attention from the other customers.

"How could you?" asked Atobe, he seemed to on the brink of tears, almost as if she'd just told him they weren't really related, in that moment she wished for it. Why was he always so dramatic?

"I enrolled in Rikkaidai," she repeated calmly. "I didn't stab you in the chest," not literally anyway. Despite her seemingly concerned and worried exterior, deep down she was suppressing a grin, she always had a lot of fun teasing her brother, and while she had other reasons for enrolling, this was definitely in the top three.

"Why? Delilah~" Using Raira's english name, but it's romanization was next to impossible to get right, so she shortened it to Laylah and from there it became Raira.

"Goodness, why could I possible want to not attend Hyotei?" Raira asked Kabaji sarcastically. "I can think of a big one in front of me as well as the hundreds that follow."

"Usu," Kabaji agreed.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" asked Atobe.

"Mine, nah Hiro?"

"Usu."

"Tsk tsp, you're ganging up on me," said Atobe, it was something he was used to back in England. "Fine, be that way. But serious Laylah, why Rikkai? Hyotei has better facilities, and the chess and shoji clubs are second to none." Raira shrugged.

"I wanted to piss you off," she replied, again maintaining a pocket face.

"Hey, it's one thing to mess with your big brother, it's another to mess with your education," Atobe warned her. Raira smiled and shrugged.

"If I don't fit in I'll transfer to Hyotei next semester, okay?" she offered. Atobe knew how stubborn she could be, determining it was the best deal he was going to get out of her he decided to let the subject drop.

"Alright, so how was England?"

"Cold," she answered.

"Grandpa?"

"Cold."

"Grandma?"

"Dead, so cold as well." Atobe's mouth twitch, the last was a trick question, their maternal grandmother died almost ten years ago, but he wanted a different reaction from her. "Grandpapa's good, he was crying as he saw me off though, I think he'll be lonely by himself in England now."

"Uncle and Aunt are there, he'll be fine."

"Yes, but they don't live with him." Akashi sighed, out of everyone their maternal grandfather doted and favoured Raira the most, Atobe however remembered him as a cold, hard man who never accepted anything that was less than perfect.

"Mother and Father have missed you, you know? Mother was so excited that she redecorated your room twice."

"Did Mama redecorate it or did she hire someone to?" asked Raira. Perhaps it was because she lived in England longer, but while Atobe had grown accustomed to using the japansese 'hahaue' and 'qiqiue' to address their parents, she kept using the english 'mama' and 'papa'.

"Laylah," Atobe cautioned.

"I know, I'll keep my mouth shut." Like most teenage girls, she and her mother weren't exactly on the best of terms, however she was a complete daddy's girl. Did that make Atobe a mama's boy? "How have you been Hiro? Good?"

"Usu."

"I hope Kei hasn't been bossing you around too much," she continued.

"Usu."

"Your sister came with me you know," Raira added, Kabaji's eye lit up. "She's offered to be my guide and chaperonage for a few days."

"Usu," Kabaji answered. Raira laughed, she seemed to always know what Kabaji was saying without him needed to saying anymore than one word. Atobe silently watched his little sister, at least that part of her hadn't changed, she'd grown up so much since he hast saw her, she was taller, her figure more womanly and her face had lost so much of its childish roundness that he always remembered. Suddenly his chest tensed, she had undergone such a physical transformation, what else had changed?

"Shall we get going then?" suggested Atobe looking at the time.

XXX

Yukimura Seiichi stood by the drinking taps in a daze, his head felt light and his hands weak. For a moment it was almost as if someone had cut the sensation from his brain to the rest of his body. He gripped his fist, the feeling had return and his vision was clear again.

"You alright Yukimura?" asked Sanada Genichiro as he walked up to his childhood friend. Yukimura nodded.

"I'm fine, just tired," he replied.

"You've been under a lot of stress lately, maybe you should-"

"I'm fine!" Yukimura snapped, a little more harsh than he'd intended. Ever since his older brother ran away both his parents had turn all their attention onto him, he was the heir now it seemed, they acted as if his brother never existed. And it almost seemed like he had, he wasn't answering his mobile, nor responding to any text, emails or any form of communication, according to his bank he hadn't touch any of his funds in months, his parents refused to file a missing persons report and the police refused to even look. The expectations from his family made him feel heavy, he didn't want to take over the company, he wanted to just win the nationals for the third year in a row. "I'm just tired," he insisted again.

"You don't look well Yukimura," Sanada told him, leave it to him to be completely and absolutely blunt. "You look pale and lifeless."

"Thank you for the concern, but I'm fine." Sanada seemed to buy this act and decided to back off. "You should go back," Yukimura instructed. "If left too long alone who knows what type of trouble they'll get up to." Agreeing with this Sanada headed back to the tennis courts. Yukimura sighed and leaned against the drinking taps, the numb sensation was returning, he could hear others making their way to the taps, a girl was now refilling her water bottle beside him, not wanting anyone to see him in his current state he tried to get up but he slipped and stumbled, the girl dropped what she was doing and managed to grabbed him.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said repeating the same line.

"Bullshit," she replied, startling Yukimura. Taking a look at this girl she had light brown hair and was dressed in the Rikkai uniform. "Come on, you need to go to the infirmary," she told him with such authority that Yukimura merely nodded and followed her lead.

"Thank you," he said. The girl nodded in acknowledgment but brushed the thanks aside, the trip was more difficult than he expected, his knees felt weak and his head heavy but she had a strong grip on his arm and prevented him from falling. Once there, there was no staff inside, without a word she sat him down on one of the beds and checked his temperature by gently pressing her forehead against his, surprising Yukimura.

"You don't have a fever," she commented when she moved back. "But you seem ill, do you have any allergies or exisiting conditions?"

"I'm fine… I think," he added, now not so certain. He was taken aback by her hands on and indifferent approach.

"Have you had breakfast?" she asked, Yukimura thought for a moment, he had hurried out the door that morning and hadn't eaten. "What are you, an idiot? Your blood sugar must be low." The theory made sense, it explained his lightheadedness. "Here," she reached into her bag and handed him a chocolate bar. "Eat," she instructed. Wordlessly Yukimura nodded and opened the packaging.

"This hasn't happened before," he said between mouthfuls trying the defend himself, he suddenly felt very embarrassed in front of a complete stranger. After all, all she knew of him was that he was a very weak and perhaps had an eating disorder.

"If your dieting for some guy, then you really are an idiot. Ruining your health for some jerk isn't worth it-"

"Some guy?" asked Yukimura.

"Is this a anorexic thing then? Then that's worse girl-"

"Girl?" She paused and quietly assessed Yukimura, he was wearing his yellow club jersey and his face was very pretty.

"You're not a-?"

"No!" Suddenly all Yukimura's strength and energy returned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Yukimura had never felt so embarrassed his entire life, she had thought he was a girl the whole time, thinking back it made sense from the way she had treated him, but it pushed a dagger into his chest. Who was she? After the big reveal she had asked him for his name and when he'd told her she stammered some kind of excuse and rushed out of the room as quickly as she could. She was pretty and looked familiar but he couldn't quite place her, her light brown hair had a familiar blue tint which brought out the colour of her eyes, he had no doubt that he had seen her before, but where? Definitely not at school, but did that make her a first year? He couldn't help but notice that she was a bit more physically developed than most freshman, something he'd discovered when she'd leaned forward to check his temperature, he blushed in embarrassment but what could he had done? Not look? Impossible, despite his looks he was still a guy after all.

Yukimura took a deep breath in and sighed, no matter, if she really was a student then he'd run into her again.

XXX

If there was one thing Niou took seriously, it was tennis, it was the only reason he showed up to school every day and on weekends. Club activities finished early for some reason that day, Yukimura had disappeared and soon the other big 2 followed. Now he was in a predicament, lessons were going to start in little over half an hour, he was bored but didn't want to go to the classroom yet, therefore the obvious solution was to take a nap where he was on the school roof but there wasn't really enough time for a good snooze.

The large door to the stairwell opened, turning to see who it was Niou didn't recognise the girl, but instantly she reminded him of Yagyuu with her perfect hair and uniform, what ruined that first impression was when she yanked her tie loose and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She pulled out a lighter but it didn't work.

"Here," Niou pulled out his own, lighted it and held the flame up for her, the girl smiled and sat down next to him against the railing. She popped one of the cigarettes in her mouth before leaning in to light it.

"Thanks," she said one it was lit. She took a deep puff before blowing out the smoke with a sigh of relief.

"Bad day?" guessed Niou.

"Bad ten minutes," she answered. "Called a dude a girl, ruined that future bridge."

"Hah," Niou's mind suddenly jumped to Yukimura. "Nice way to make friends." The girl smiled.

"I know right," she answered sarcastically. Instantly Niou liked her. "Want some?" she asked holding out the cigarette, Niou took it from her and had a puff, it was a different brand from the one he used, there was strange sweet after taste but he liked it. "So I'm relieving stress, why are you here? What's your excuse?"

"Relieving boredom," Niou answered simply, secretly checking the girl out. The first thing he noticed was that she was beautiful, more elegant than cute but definitely sexy, his instincts told him she was the good girl type like Yagyuu but she had pulled out a pack of cigarettes right in front of him on school grounds, which completely threw his radar.

"Like what you see?" she asked him with a small smile, she had noticed him looking at her.

"Definitely," Niou replied in a smilier tone, he liked how she didn't play coy and innocent, she was an attractive girl who knew it, and would use it to her advantage.

"Well, careful boy, I tend to go for a bit older, I've found boys closer to my age, unable to…handle me. You break so easily," she had a small twinkle in her eyes as she spoke, she was provoking him, Niou especially didn't like the way she called him 'boy'. Niou checked his watch, they had time, he gripped the railings on either side of her and leaned in towards her.

"Care to find out?" he offered. Her smiled turned into a smirk.

XXX

Students transfers were rare at Rikkai especially one into class 3-A, which was why when Yagyuu was told that there would be a new student he pictured a perfect student, much like himself. The girl he met wasn't what he'd pictured, her hair looked like she'd just crawled out of bed, she'd missed a button on her shirt and her tie was poorly done, just like Niou. However when he pointed this out to her, instead of rebutting defensively like Niou would have, she merely smiled and apologised.

"I was in a hurry," she explained fixing her appearance in the reflection of the windows.

"No problem," Yagyuu replied. She was polite at least, he thought to himself.

XXX

Keigo was in a mood, he'd come home expecting his little sister to be waiting for him but he found her packing up the things she'd used the night before back into her luggage.

"Are you going back to England?" he'd asked.

"No, I'm…" In the end it was his mother who'd told him, Raira had decided not to live in the mansion as it was too far from school, she'd brought an apartment and was moving in the next week. Atobe had tried to convince her to stay, she could transfer schools or they could hire a driver for her but she refused to budge. That night ended with Atobe sulking in bed at 8pm.

"Are you awake?" asked Raira as she stood in the doorway of Atobe's room.

"First you enrol in Rikkai now you're living alone? What next, you're changing your surname and you're no long my sister?" asked Atobe. He laid in bed refusing to look at her, Raira laughed quietly, closing the door behind her she crawled under the sheets beside Atobe.

"Do you remember? When I was little, whenever I was acting up…which covers most of the time." Atobe smiled. "You used to let me sleep in your bed. To calm me down and help me sleep."

"You're still little," Atobe replied.

"Mama and Papa told you to stop putting up with my selfishness…"

"You were scared, you felt alone. Mom and Dad, they never, they-"

"They're not bad people," said Raira. "I know that now, they're…limited. I've accepted that a long time ago Kei. But I hate it, I feel like something that you get as a bonus when you buy something, it's not something you choose or want but you take it anyway." Atobe shot up when he heard this. "I'm not wanted here Kei."

"I want you! You are my sister, my twin sister, I need you!" Atobe insisted. "When I was having a hard time at school, when I was bullied and picked on, you stood by my side. I need you Laylah, I need you. You're my sister."

"Exactly," Raira smiled up at her brother. "I'm just your sister. You don't need me Keigo, I feel like my life's purpose has been fulfilled and now I'm of no use. Mama and Papa made me come to Japan for you, they made my life revolve around yours. They dress me to compliment you, they've groomed for an arranged marriage to your benefit, they've had me keep my mouth shut to let you shine. I'm just arm candy, a pretty doll that'll make you stand out even more. I've had enough Kei, I want my own life. So please, don't make this difficult. I love you but-"

"Do you hate me?"

"I don't hate you brother," Raira assured him. "I love you more than anyone else in the world, I know you better than myself, how could I ever bring myself to hate you? At least that's what I used to think…my cage was the air I breathed in, it became so natural to me that I, I never noticed myself chipping away at myself for you. But I see it now, I see the cage around me, and it's suffocating Keigo, it's so tight I can barely breathe. I don't hate you, but if this keeps up I know I will grow to hate you, and you're such a huge part of my identity that the mere thought of it scares me. I've lived the last sixteen years for your sake, let me live for myself, please?"

Atobe hugged Raira tightly, she was his little sister, she was his. He knew for a long time he was being possessive, that he was limiting her, that he was suppressing and over shadowing her. But she never said complained, she endured for his sake, and only now did he see how much that had hurt her.

"I need you."

"No you don't. You never have."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Good morning Atobe-san," Yagyuu greeted Raira as he entered the classroom. Raira smiled and waved in response while he sat down beside her.

"Morning Yagyuu-kun," she replied. As she had feared, her brother's reputation had spread all the way to Rikkaidai, students seemed to actively avoid her since they found out the two were related, Yagyuu however, noticing how she was being ostracised, made an effort to become friends, what he didn't realise, was that while the students were initially avoiding her due to her last name, now, they avoided her due to her closeness to the tennis regular.

"You look tired," Yagyuu commented.

"Yeah, I guess, haven't been getting a good night sleep," Raira answered. "Been just trying to keep up with everyone else." She held up the book on the desk, it was their japanese class textbook and her iPhone which had a dictionary app on it. "I'm barely understanding this."

"Japanese is your second language right?" Yagyuu peered over her shoulder, she had annotated almost every second word in the text, she had elegant writing he noted, for some reason that further improved his opinion of her.

"No, my third."

"Third? What's the first two?"

"English and french." Raira and her brother were born and raised in England for most of their life, however, as their mother was french, she insisted they learn her mother tongue, Raira seemed to pick it up rather quickly while Atobe struggled. In the end, when he moved to Japan he promptly forgot everything.

Yagyuu couldn't hide the fact that he was impressed. "If you want, I can tutor you," he offered.

"And I teach you french?" guessed Raira, Yagyuu smiled and nodded. "Sure, that sounds great, I need all the help I can get."

"Well speaking of help," said Yagyuu, Raira's eyes narrowed as she looked on the gentleman with suspicion.

"What?"

"I'm on the student council, and there's an opening, well actually we really need help with the paperwork-"

"And you want me to do the grunt work?"

"No, well, _we'll_ be doing the grunt work," Yagyuu clarified. "I got stuck with doing the budgeting for the extracurricular clubs and they're due in at the end of the day, so I was hoping that you wouldn't mind helping."

"Sure," Raira agreed without hesitation.

"Thank you." Yagyuu breathed a sigh of relief, if she hadn't agreed he would have had to ask Niou, and he didn't trust the trickster with something like a school budget.

"You look like you've been saved from a death sentence," Raira exclaimed, giggling.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Why? Didn't you volunteer to be part of the student council?"

"Yes, but only because my parents wanted me to, I only agreed so that they'd let me do something I love."

"Something you love? Like what?" Raira asked.

"Tennis." Raira's smile instantly dissapeared.

"I see." She immediately recovered and her false smile quickly returned. "Do you mind watching my stuff? I need to go to the bathroom."

"Sure," replied Yagyuu.

XXX

Raira washed her hands in the sink of the girl's bathroom, classes were about to begin and she was alone. Yagyuu's voice echoed in her ears.

_Tennis._

Raira wanted to scream, first her brother, now him as well. Why was everyone so obsessed with such a stupid sport? She let her false face slip, in her reflection she saw her own eyes, dead and cold beneath the facade she had perfected over the years. No one knew, she let no one see her real self. Not even her brother. She wanted him to love her, to care for her, to adore her, if he knew the real Delilah, he'd shun her in an instant.

Her chest felt heavy, her hands numb under the cold water. In a fit of rage Raira slammed her fist into the glass mirror shattering it, yet her face remained icy and indifferent. Blood trickled down her finger, she wrapped her hand in her handkerchief and left, acting as if nothing had happened.

XXX

"Alright, Atobe-san, would you come up here and solve this equation for the class?" asked the maths teacher. Raira nodded and smiled, relieved, Yagyuu was too, out of all subjects she was most confident in mathematics, english and french. Without hesitation she picked up the chalk and wrote down the answer with all the working out within seconds, she placed the chalk back down and walked back to her seat, as she did Yagyuu heard one of the female students behind him say.

"Bitch," in a whisper, however loud enough for the whole class to hear. Yagyuu turned around to see who it was but the whole class was giggling, Yagyuu turned back around and watched Raira, she was struggling to hide the hurt from her face but kept her stride and returned to her seat. Yagyuu reached out to comfort her but she moved her hand out of his grasp.

"Don't," she warned him. "You'll make it even worse."

XXX

When the lunch bell rung Yagyuu went up to Raira who was still sitting at her desk.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied, however Yagyuu could tell she wasn't.

"How about we have lunch together?"

"Just stop it," she snapped at him. "I'm fine, I'd be better if you'd just leave me alone."

"Atobe-san?"

"Don't you get it?" Raira wasn't her usual self, there was a towering amount of menace in her quiet and calm voice. "It's because of you, it's because you're talking to me that the girls are jealous." Yagyuu knew that by befriending Raira he was making school life a little more difficult for her, but she never showed it, he never expected it to really affect her.

"Just, just leave me alone," she said walking out of the classroom. Something was wrong, but Yagyuu didn't really believe that it was because of one snide comment, so what was it?

XXX

Niou found himself cornered by four of his classmates during lunchtime, he sighed. The tennis tournament was coming up and he didn't want to be injured for the first round, however, since they always crushed their opponents, maybe he could do with a handicap.

"So you're the guy sleeping with my Ryoko?" one demanded.

"Who?" asked Niou, honestly not remembering who he was referring to.

"My girlfriend! You dick! She says you came on to here-"

"Well, I'll stop you right there," interrupted Niou. "I never hit on girls, they come to me. Whoever your girlfriend was, she came to me, not the other way aro-" The guy suddenly grabbed his collar. Niou sighed, he should have kept his mouth shut.

"What on earth are you doing?" asked a female voice. Niou looked to see a female student watching them. She was cute, he thought, however it was only when he took a closer look did he realise she was the girl he had slept with the day before on the school roof, but she was different.

"Back off girl, this has nothing to do with you," said the boyfriend of one of the girls he'd sleep with. She shrugged and began walking away, Niou was shocked. Wasn't there a universal rule in helping someone from getting beat up?

"Continue," she said nonchalantly.

"Hey, she's that girl, the new transfer in 3-A."

"You mean that rich boy-"

"Yeah." Niou noticed a sudden change in one of the boys, he swaggered his way up towards her.

"You're pretty cute, how about we forget this bunch and we-" he tried to put and arm over her shoulder and without hesitation she grabbed that arm, pulled him forward to throw his balance and then gave him a strong karate chop whack across the neck, the boy was cough and gasping for air on the ground.

"I'm in a bad mood," she declared. "Don't bother me."

"Hey-" the others began to move but the girl turned around to face them and smiled. He'd never seen such cold eyes or such a lack of concern for human life but when she raised a finger and wiggled it side to side and said "Uh ah" he felt a chill run down his spine.

"Stop that boys," she continued. She was still smiling, but there was no warmth, only cold blooded ruthlessness. "You really want to try and attack me?" she asked in an innocent voice. "That's foolish, and you know it. You know my family, what do you think will happen a day from now? A week from now? If you even try to do what you're thinking about. I'll tell you now, you'd be better off if you killed me. Because if you do attack me, and I end up with a hideous scar of any sort or if I just feel like it, I'll ruin you. You, your family, and anyone who you could possibly care for. So boys," she raised her arms out wide. "Give me your best shot."

Niou watched her with a mix of fascination, respect, awe and fear. She was an absolute sociopath.

"Are you alright?" she asked him once the boys had run off.

"Yeah," Niou answered smoothing the creases from his shirt. "Thanks."

"It was nothing," she replied. "Bye," she began to leave, Niou quickly followed after her.

"Do you not remember me?"

"Hmm?"

"You, me, rooftop, nothing?" The girl shrugged.

"What of it?"

"You don't remember?"

"No, I do. But what of it?" she repeated. This was the first time Niou had been on the receiving end of such treatment.

XXX

Raira didn't talk to Yagyuu for the rest of the day, whenever someone else spoke to her she kept her voice voice neutral and friendly but Yagyuu could tell she was just pretending to be alright. He was surprised when she showed up at student council office to still help him with the paperwork.

"Why are you avoiding me?" questioned Yagyuu as they sorted through the list of clubs at Rikkai and begin allocating the school's budget to each.

"I'm not, if I were I wouldn't be here helping you now would I?" Raira noticed that on the list of sport clubs Rikkaidai's tennis club received more than triple the amount of funds than the other clubs.

"You're the type of person who takes promises seriously, that's why you're here. So why are you upset with me?"

"I'm not upset with you."

"Then why when I invited you to lunch you refused and disappeared?"

"I-I…"

'Atobe-san?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" shouted Raira, she clenched her fists in frustration, she didn't mean for it to come out so harshly. "I'm sorry."

"No it's alright," Yagyuu assured her, then it clicked. "Is this something to do with your brother?" he asked, it was the first time he was acknowledging Atobe Keigo's existence to her. "It is isn't it?" he thought back to their previous conversation. "Tennis. That's it, isn't it?"

"You seemed to already have all the answers, why ask me?"

"Your brother huh?" Yagyuu mused. "He's a piece of work is all I have to say about him. Ato-no, Raira-"

"It's stupid," Raira said with a sigh. "I just, I want to distance myself from him, create a world that is mine, one which he's not part of…I just, I hate tennis." Yagyuu laughed. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to." They sat together in silence for a while, Yagyuu took a good look at Raira. She really did look like her brother, he noticed, very much so in fact, but her features were softer, and she didn't have that constant arrogant snarl. "Tennis doesn't belong to your brother," Yagyuu told her. "And just because I play tennis, doesn't mean I'm part of your brother's world."

Raira didn't say anything as she processed this, suddenly she smiled, Yagyuu felt his face getting hot. "Thank you."

"No worries," he said. He checked the time and gasped, club activities were about to start and they hadn't finished yet.

"Go, I can finish the rest of by myself," said Raira almost as if she was reading his mind.

"Thank you," replied Yagyuu racing out the door.

Yagyuu was right, tennis didn't solely belong to her brother, she didn't need to worry. Noticing the bandaid on her hand she suddenly remembered the mirror of the girl's bathroom, she had a temper, then again everyone in her family knew that. As Raira finalised the papers she noticed that they needed Yagyuu's signature before she handed them in. She sighed, stapling the necessary papers together she picked them up to take them down to the tennis courts for Yagyuu to sign.


End file.
